


Under Pressure

by DatLAG



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Drowning, Feelings Realization, M/M, Mouth-to-Mouth, One-Sided Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Pre-Slash, Rescue, Tired Hinata Hajime, at this point in the canon at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29038569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DatLAG/pseuds/DatLAG
Summary: Nagito almost drowns in the ocean, but someone is there to rescue him and lay down some truths.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito
Comments: 20
Kudos: 122





	Under Pressure

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to stick as much as I could to the canon characters, so maybe people will find this a bit peculiar because I usually tweak the characters a tiny bit for the sake of plot  
> But here the plot writes itself hjfcnbhdsj

Strolling around the island was the routine by now. It was how Hajime would decide how he was going to spend his day.

Walking around was one way for him to clear his mind, taking in the sight, smells, the feelings… Something other than a reminder of the cruel situation they are in, and that they had lost 4 of their classmates to said situation.

Great, now that Hajime thought about it his mind was back in the gutter. He felt his stomach twist and held it by reflex. Maybe that was what he should do, stop for a meal. His mind, instead of going to the restaurant, went to the dinner on the second island. He never got to really enjoy a meal there, after all he ran away from the embarrassing sights of girls in swimsuits before getting to enjoy anything.

He decided to take a detour all around the first island, to motivate his appetite, and it would let him farm his PET a bit. He needed more gifts those times around, and he had new Monokuma plushies to search for but he really wasn’t in the mood to search for any of them really.

Also, something told him it was better to check around. Just in case.

* * *

So that was how drowning felt like.

In the long series of misfortunate events that happened to one unlucky Nagito Komaeda, that was a first.

Finally free of the grasp of ropes and chains, the trial, and exploring the new island, he took his time and decided to cleanse his mind with the scent of the ocean, walking along the beach. The same beach he and all the symbols of hope had first arrived on this island. It was engraved deep within his mind. He could even recall the exact spot Hinata had fallen unconscious from his panic attack. That thought had made him chuckle.

Another thing he reflected on while walking, thinking of the brunet just made him want to smile. He truly radiated hope, oozing that aura of calm, his presence was practically therapeutic. Truly, the Ultimate Serenity.

Alas, while caught in his thoughts of spiky brown hair and green eyes, the next thing he knew, he heard a splash, and he didn’t feel any breeze around him. Just the heavy pressure of water.

His human reflex was to swim up for air of course, a pathetic attempt to save the life he really didn’t care about. A survival instinct. However, as he tried to move, he felt as if a force was pulling him down, the feelings on his skin helped him identify what that was: a strong current.

His swimming was weak. His physical strength was pathetic, after all, his body was frail, and weakened by sickness. Eyes stinging from the salt of the sea, but he could still see the glimmers of sunshine on the water surface get farther and farther.

Nagito learned another thing in that moment: drowning was painful.

Water entering his respiratory system, his throat, lungs… He could feel his consciousness starting to slip away.

Well, that sucked. How disappointing, dying in such a useless painful way. Such despair…

Or that was he thought at first, it was when he started to feel cold, that a painful sensation gripped his stomach.

Dying cold and alone.

Now that was unfortunate… It hurt. That thought hurt. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, after all, he had already given up on that dream. The fantasy of dying with someone to watch over him.

He could remember that dream, he was in a hospital bed, he was weak, his consciousness slipping away. The sun was setting, the window was opened, the transparent blinds swinging back and forth in the wind. He could recall looking at it, feeling colder and colder.

Then he would feel a hand grasp his gently, intertwine their fingers. That hand was warm, quite strong, but handling him with kindness.

Nagito would slowly look up to the one with him. The person would let out a soft smile, and Nagito would smile back while squeezing the hand in his. Slowly, he would slip away. Disappear. The last thing he would see would be that warm gentle smile.

Before, the person with him was featureless, a placeholder for a fantasy. But, recently, that dream started to be filled, the person gained colors, features, an identity.

He tried to think about why it was this specific person of all people. He couldn’t pinpoint why. He knew he was longing for a symbol of hope, for someone that would give meaning to his existence… But then, why did he feel such a strong intense feeling in his chest..?

How foolish. Like anyone would love him. Like that person, that new face, that _he_ would give him any love. Nagito was an idiot. A hopeless idiot.

His eyesight was falling apart, he could still see the remnants of sunlight on the water’s surface. Before his eyes closed, he saw that face one more time. Probably an illusion of his own mind.

How unlucky.

* * *

Hajime’s head erupted from the water, his body dragged down by who he was carrying. He took a deep breath and lost no time to curse.

 _“Fuckfuckfuck-_ Goddamnit!”

He hurried to swim back to shore, trying his best to hold up Komaeda, who was unconscious. Even while struggling, Hajime tried his best to keep the white haired teen’s head out of the water.

Hajime was just strolling on the beach when he noticed unnatural bubbles in the sea. He took off his tie and shirt and dived in to be sure it was nothing, only to see Komaeda deep in the water, not moving. Fear gripped his stomach hard, and he grabbed the boy as fast as he could.

How did he even manage to get in there!? There was no wind, no tide…

Did he… try to kill himself?

Hajime made it back to the beach, dragging the other’s wet unconscious body in the sand. Once he was far enough away from the water, he let Komaeda down and hurried to his side, placing his ear near his mouth.

He wasn't breathing.

“Shit-!” Panicked Hajime. The fucker must’ve had water in his lungs.

The brunet reminded himself of how to do CPR, and put his hands on the other’s chest, pressing on it in a rhythm.

“You piece of shit! You are **NOT** dying on me!!”

Komaeda wasn’t going to die. He _couldn’t_ die. After all of the bullshit he put Hajime and the others through, dying like this would be the worst conclusion. He would **not** get away with everything by just dropping dead.

If he died now, Hajime swore he was going to piss on his tomb. He would never admit it out loud but yes he cared about Komaeda gritting his teeth and enduring the consequences of his acts _that_ much. He would _not_ get away so easily. And they would _not_ have a trial over this, Hajime was tired of his classmates dying.

He kept pressing but Komaeda was showing no signs of coming back, so Hajime did the other thing he knew must be done in those situations.

He reached for the other's face and pinched the luckster's nose. The brunet took a deep breath before pressing his mouth onto the other’s, and breathed out. Hajime never did mouth to mouth to anyone, so he didn’t even know if he was doing it properly, but he tried his best.

He went back to pressuring Komaeda’s chest. “Breathe dammit!!” He complained.

He pinched the white haired teen’s nose again and went back in, he was going to make this dumbfuck breathe even if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

Nagito felt his consciousness being restored as he felt air pushed in his lungs and something warm pressed against him. Something soft and really hot…

Wait a minute.

Nagito’s eyes flew open and it took him half a second to register a half naked Hinata giving him mouth to mouth, in the next half second he coughed out water, right into the brunet’s poor mouth.

Hinata pulled back and coughed, Nagito did the same, lifting himself up and panting the foreign liquid out of his respiratory system. He eventually felt a hand hitting his back, helping him cough it all out.

When he finally started to loudly breathe, Hinata spoke. “Are you good? You’re back?”

Nagito nodded weakly as he caught up his breath rhythm.

Hinata let out a long sigh before collapsing in the sand next to him and he ran his hand through his hair. The movement was weirdly mesmerizing to the lucky student. While of course he would be in awe of a superior being such as Hinata, he felt his breath being taken away. He couldn’t remember feeling this way towards the other Ultimates. Now why was that..?

Nagito then caught up with the fact he was still alive, probably saved by his classmate next to him. He couldn’t believe it. No way Hinata, a glorious symbol of hope, would move himself even the slightest bit to save him. He only did it to avoid another trial. Actually not even, he should’ve let him die here and there, and they could all agree that Nagito killed himself and everything was done, he was gone with no consequences. Or Hinata should've helped him drown, like that no one would suspect a thing, and Nagito would die in the name of hope.

Hinata got up, and grabbed Nagito by the collar. “Don’t _ever_ do that again! Am I clear!?”

Of course Hinata would be mad. He wasted his precious time on Nagito Waste of Space Komaeda. Drowning was not a pleasant experience though, so the white haired teen would try to not repeat this. He nodded again, still not feeling ready to speak.

Hinata sighed again. “Seriously…”

Nagito was expecting him to hit him, or give him some kind of punishment.

The brunet slowly let go of his collar. “You scared the hell out of me… I don’t want to go through this again _ever.”_

Wait. _“scared?”_ Of course not. Hinata wouldn’t feel fear for Nagito’s safety. He probably had some other reasons.

Hinata turned to him. “Are you feeling better at least?”

Nagito nodded. He didn’t believe Hinata wondered about his well being. Though, the thought lit his chest on fire. Again, why was that?

“Good. Now explain what happened. How did you end up at the bottom of the ocean!?”

“Well-” Nagito coughed, his voice rusty. “I was walking along the beach and before I knew it…”

Hinata let out yet another sigh, though this time it was more one of relief. “Ok, so it was an accident…”

The white haired teen raised an eyebrow.

“For a second I thought you tried to kill yourself...”

 _Oh._ It made the lucky student chuckle however. “Sorry, this time it was pure coincidence.”

Hinata stopped dead in his mouvements. _“This_ time?”

“Huh...” Maybe he had said too much right there.

Hinata looked confused, he looked around before breathing through the nose loudly and closing his eyes. Clearly preparing himself for a serious conversation. “Listen.”

The tone of voice instantly snapped all of Nagito’s attention on him.

“I am going to tell you this _right now.”_

The brunet repositioned himself to be straight in front of Nagito.

“We’re not friends. We’re not comrades. And I don’t like you.”

Those words cut through Nagito like a knife. But he kept a straight face, he was used to being hurt.

“You’re annoying, have a load of issues, did terrible things, believe in all kinds of messed up stuff, and sometimes just talking to you makes me feel _sick.”_

The pain continued. Hinata was right, he was totally right.

“But,”

Hinata took a deep breath.

“That doesn’t mean I want you dead.”

The air was cut short in Nagito’s throat.

“I don’t want you dead, I don’t want you killed, I don’t want you hurt, I don’t want you to do bad things. All I want is to get what the hell goes on your head, reach a common understanding, and then we’re done, and we’ll never have to see each other ever again when this is over.”

Disbelief submerged his mind. “Come on Hinata-kun. I’m sure you must have better things to do than try to understand trash like me-”

Hinata waved his hand. “Believe me, keeping you in check is already a _great_ thing to do. And even if we’re not friends, you’re still my classmate. I owe you basic decency.”

The luckster felt something throb in his chest.

The brunet got up. “I’m gonna go fetch my shirt… You should get to your cabin before you catch a cold. Also you need to dry your clothes and take a shower, you know how to use the dryer right?”

Nagito stared at the ground, and nodded.

“Alright.” Hinata started walking away. “Be careful on your way back!” He then passed Nagito, disappearing behind his back, leaving Nagito sitting in the sand alone with the sound and scent of the ocean.

He let out a laugh.

Hinata just told him he didn’t like him, that they weren’t friends, and listed terrible things about him. But still went out of his way to save him, make sure he was ok, and tell him to stay safe.

There was so much kindness stored inside Hajime Hinata it was insane, Nagito didn’t deserve to be in the presence of such a shining beacon of hope.

He could feel his face on fire and his stomach twist awkwardly, a smile forcing itself on his face. He held himself in his arms and tried to collect his thoughts.

He felt that Hinata was special. They both admired Hope’s Peak academy, they both radiated the putrid scent of bystanders, and they surprisingly had a lot in common. But that didn’t justify why Hinata had a special spot in his mind, one aside all of the other Ultimates. Why was it this way..?

He heard a ruffling noise behind him and the white haired lucky student turned around. He saw Hinata buttoning his dry shirt back on, and doing his tie before shaking his head to get water out of his hair, kinda like a dog.

It made Nagito smile, and again, he felt something beat in his chest.

He put his hand on his chest as Hinata walked past him one more time. Their eyes met for a split second, and Nagito felt his heart jump.

Hinata disappeared in the distance as Nagito let out a laugh.

He just found the answer to his question. He smiled:

“I see... _That’s_ why.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like people are going to have problems with how cutthroat Hajime is in this but can we talk just how exhausting Nagito was to deal with at that point? Hajime was clearly very fed up with his shenanigans. Sorry Nagito, but I’ll only let you get with him once you finally start working through your issues. I won’t put Hajime through the exhaustion of dealing with your crazy while you don't even try to help yourself. You need a bit of therapy before a relationship fam.  
> Edit for clarification: Not saying that healing can't happen together, just in this situation with no therapist in sight and with Nagito absolutely _not_ about to help himself mentally I really don't think it's the timing for a relationship, like at all. I just think getting yourself mentally stable comes first before trying to jump into relationships. Feel free to disagree with me. Tho post canon they're in the right direction. Also Hajime was too harsh, and very hypocritical when you think about it, but that's what he does in canon and is the whole dramatic irony of it. He's far from being innocent himself, both of them are really in the wrong when you think about it jkfcsdk  
> That… just got deep. Sorry about that dfhsvbdfsjdqsd  
> I tried to stay true as much as possible as what Hajime would feel about Nagito at that point. It was pretty clear that he was fed up with his shenanigans, but still cared for him (as a friend but he would drop dead before admitting it), and wanted to understand him. He’s also the absolute nicest dude that wouldn’t want anyone to die, even Nagito who, lets be real, had been an accomplice for murder in the first chapter. Nagito himself said that’s why he fell for Hajime in the first place, the whole "even tho you're bonkers i want to understand you" thing. I really tried to capture that sentiment here.  
> I want more fic to capture that special “Yep, I’m in love with this guy” moment with Nagito. I know it’s not remotely close to good but I tried. I just need that Love Epiphany moment I love it so much jfhdwbsj  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
